Tapping apparatus



1938. H. w. RIBBLE TAPPING APPARATUS Filed May 18. 1936 INVENTOR. HARRY W. RIBBLE ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TAPPIN G APPARATUS Harry W. Ribble, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Premier-Pabst Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application May18, 1936, Serial No. 80,279

2 Claims.

The invention relates to apparatus for drawing beer or other carbonated beverages from barrels or other containers.

With the usual beer drawing apparatus it is necessary to connect a relatively long tube and a long coil of suitable metal tubing to the upper end of the tap rod in order to properly dispense the beverage and prevent the gas in the beer from separating before it reaches the dispensing faucet, and installation of this apparatus involves considerable expense which cannot be borne except by those having a relatively large business. The object of this invention is to provide a simple and effici-ent tapping apparatus which will permit the small tavern keeper to draw good beer direct from the keg and insure the retention of the gas in the beer and hence a substantially uniform product and in which the tapping member itself is provided with means restricting the flow of the beverage from the keg or barrel to such an extent that the beer will flow from the faucet at the end of the tap member at substantially atmospheric pressure even though the pressure in the barrel is considerably above atmosphere and usually kept at about five to fifteen pounds per square inch gauge.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 2-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation view of a part of the apparatus. i

A form of fitting, which is known to the trad as the Golden Gate fitting, uses a rotary valve in the barrel which is adapted to be controlled by a tapping member in the form of a large relatively short pipe having a connection with the.

fitting 4i keyed and clamped to an operating shaft 42 provided with a diamond shaped end 43 which is adapted to be engaged by the similar end 44 of a tubular member 45 having inlet openings 46, a shoulder 41, cam projections 48, and a threaded bore 49.

A rubber washer 50 is interposed between the shoulder 47 and the annular seat 5| formed on the housing and is adapted to be securely clamped between said shoulder and seat by the inward movement of the member 45 under the action of the spaced cam-projections 48 engaging the cam slots 52 in the housing 31 as said member 45 is turned relative to said housing. This turning operation also acts to turn on or open the valve 40, 4!.

A head member 53 is threaded to fit the threaded bore 49 and may have a rubber washer 54 interposed between it and a shoulder 55 on said member 45. This member 53 may be fixedly secured against rotation relative to the member 45 by a key member 55 adapted to engage in any one of a plurality of radially disposed slots 56 on the member 45 and secured in locked position relative thereto by a screw 51 passing through a slot 58 in said key 55 and clamping it to the bottom of a key slot 59 formed in said head member. 1

A head member 60 is threaded to fit the threaded end 6| of a faucet fitting 62 (not shown in full), and a gasket 63 is disposed between said member and end and adjacent a strainer 64.

The head members 53 and 60 each have a bore 55 formed therein flared at one end 66 and adapted to receive one end of a coiled metal tube 6'! of small diameter, such as three-sixteenths or one-eighth inch diameter, and of a length torestrict the flow of beverage from the barrel so as to provide a delivery of one to one and a quarter gallons per minute. This tube is flared at each end where it is mounted in the cooperative head member to which it is secured in fluid tight en gagernent by brazing or welding.

The tube 61 is reinforced and enclosed within a load carrying outer tube 68 which is secured to the head members 53 and'fill by fitting over the reduced end portions 69 of said tubes to which they are secured by the screws 10.

With this form of fitting the operating member 44 being secured to the head 53 acts as a unit with the head 60, tube 68, and tube 61 so that it is moved by the operator to first effect an interlocking engagement between the parts 43 and 44 and then turned to establish flow of beer from the barrel past valve 40, 4| through ports 39 ber 53, tube 61, head member 60 to the faucet fitting 62 which on being turned to open position and 46 to the interior of member 45, head memallows the beerto be dispensed therefrom at a rate to insure its being uniformly charged. With this form of fitting the gas pressure in the barrel is maintained byadmission of gas through a separate fitting not shown.

' With the above construction the small tavern keeper is able to dispense beer of substantially V uniform consistency until the contents of the barrel are used up and without the use of the expensive equipment usually employed.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particularly form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is: 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of .a. rotary tapping valve operating member having a valve turning connection at one end and a dispensing faucet fitting at the other end, said turning connection and said faucet fitting each including a head member, and a coiled tube of small diameter between said head members and secured in fluid tight engagement therewith greatly' restricting the flow from said connection to said faucet fitting.

2. In a device of the character described, the

combination of a tapping valve operating member having a dispensing faucet fitting at one end and a valve operating means at the other, of a small coiled tube connected to and extending between said ends for restricting the flow to said 

